BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

External rethink

PPP review: why companies are competing with academics for research partnerships

February 8, 2018 11:07 PM UTC

As the industry seeks to develop new ways to access external innovation, companies are re-evaluating the value of public-private partnerships, and increasingly turning to other companies for research partnerships in lieu of broad deals with academic institutions. BioCentury’s seventh annual analysis of PPPs shows that while enthusiasm for forming the partnerships has leveled off, inter-company research deals have risen sharply in the last two years.

Industry leaders who spoke with BioCentury attributed the shift to at least three factors. Aside from the ease in aligning priorities between companies, stakeholders point to opportunity costs of open-ended, single-institutional agreements and a growing distaste for multiparty consortia that lack follow-through or don’t wind up serving the company’s needs...